Genome assembly and genome‐wide association studies decipher the genetic basis of isovitexin synthesis and yield traits in mungbean

SUMMARY Mungbean ( Vigna radiata L.) is a nutritionally diverse food, associated with human health, such as heat dissipation. Although the genetic basis of yield‐related traits in major crops has been thoroughly investigated, there is limited related gene information on mungbean. To address this issue, in this study, we first reported the high‐quality genome assembly of cultivar Sulv1 Its size was 473.67 Mb, and the N50 value (11.3 Mb) was larger than those in previous studies. We then performed domestication analyses and genome‐wide association studies on days to flowering and 100 seed weight. In domestication analyses, 20 differentially expressed genes were identified from 1022 selected regions and their Arabidopsis homologous genes were confirmed in Arabidopsis , such as LFR , GA20OX, and ACC2 . In particular, EVM0030058 significantly increased the synthesis of isovitexin in mungbean hairy roots, and 40 μM isovitexin showed good effects in reducing inflammation in vitro. The domestication loci Chr3‐47 757 894 was significantly associated with days to flowering and/or 100‐seed weight. Tts candidate genes, VrLFR , a homolog of LFR in Arabidopsis , and verified by real‐time PCR and haplotype analysis and found to be negatively correlated and differentially expressed in large‐ and small‐seeded accessions. Finally, VrLFR H1 overexpression lines increased seed‐size‐related traits and promoted early flowering in transgenic Arabidopsis compared to Col‐0. The p35S :: VrLFR lines recovered the phenotype of lfr mutants. VrLFR was shown to be available for early maturing and high yielding breeding. Moreover, 100‐seed weight showed a subtle positive correlative trend with isovitexin content ( r = 0.385, P = 0.092). These findings establish a solid experimental foundation for anti‐inflammatory studies on mungbean and provide a theoretical basis for its high‐yield and high‐quality molecular breeding.